Inspection or testing devices such as borescopes are generally used to inspect objects located remote from a device operator, such as internal components of gas and steam turbines. A tool having a video head disposed on its distal tip can be maneuvered by the operator to a desired viewing location, and a video signal from the video head provides a view of the desired location to the operator on a screen of the borescope. Motors and control systems to perform borescope functions such as maneuvering the tool and adjusting the image can be managed by one or more processors located on one or more circuit boards of the borescope. The operating components and the circuit boards, however, generate heat during use, which can negatively impact their performance and decrease their maximum operating temperature. The increased thermal energy of the components and circuit boards can cause them to become less reliable, less effective, and less efficient. Additionally, it can be difficult for an operator to handle the borescope, or at least specific components of the borescope, during and after use due to the amount of heat that builds up in certain operating components of the borescope.
Some borescopes include one or more heat sinks to help control the amount of thermal energy generated during use. Traditionally, these modules use passively cooled heat sinks that rely purely on natural convection for heat transfer. These heat sinks are often bulky and weigh a significant amount with respect to the whole borescope in order to provide sufficient surface area to maintain acceptable internal and external temperatures. Even then, current designs still result in borescopes that do not work efficiently and become too hot. Disadvantages related to efficiency, size, weight, and touch temperature affect the modules of borescopes that operate tools like articulable video heads. This can lead to the use of large heat sinks with long and/or tall fin arrays in order to provide sufficient surface area across which heat can be dissipated.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improved cooling, and thus performance and reliability, of the components of an electronic device, such as a borescope.